Hi guys, Just a little back ground info to start off this post. I bought the XL7 recently for under $6000, It was fitted with a TJM alloy bull bar and Narva 200 mm spotlights. The car hasnt seen any major off road driving to speak of. I imediately purchased and fitted the car with new suspension and spacers from SSA which gave me good amount of lift over all. I then replaced the standard 235- 60- 16 tyers with 5 Maxxis 980, 235- 70- 16 tyers. Even these mods were enough to take this car from an old mans jalopy to a fully beefed up 4x4. with an extra 69 mm ground clearance overall. I have just completed a 12000lb I-MAX winch addition to my lifted 2001 XL7, On the forums that I have researched, none of them promoted or reccommended the idea of this mod. But like most boys we want the toys.. so I had to find a way to make it happen. I took off the Bar to weigh up the possibilities of my winch mod. I then fabricated brackets from 6 mm steel plate and angle bar and welded these to the chassis of the car. I have extended the Alloy bar securing brackets 40 mm forward to allow for the winch mounting plate to fit behind the bar and in front of and just below the radiator. I have also welded a 50 mm square bar to mount the winch plate as it needed spacers to fit to the newly formed chassis extention. With the correct measurments the winch was flush with the bottom of the Alloy bar, this was so that I would not lose any frontal approach angle. After cutting a portion of the Alloy bar to fit the fairlead everything was ready to fit together. To fit the control box and Clutch for the winch I had to move my Narva Spots 30 mm further out but I replaced them with IPF XL 900's. I fabracated a small bracket to fit the control box to the bar between the spotlights and then cut two slots approximately 80 mm apart and pressed in the steel cross member between the slots of the car where the clutch needs to move through freely. Its a little fiddly to manouver but it can be done. With the winch mounted and partially tested Im a very happy camper..